
Free school meals – a healthy and sustainable school meal system
Cynnal Cymru hosted a second roundtable looking at the implementation of universal free school meals (uFSM) in primary schools in Wales.
The Foundational Economy covers those areas of the economy that provide the goods and services essential for everyday life.
Health and social care, food, housing, energy and utilities, construction, retailers on the high street and tourism are all areas [or ‘zones’] of the foundational economy.
These goods and services are generally provided by public bodies; (directly or through funding outsourced activities); small and medium enterprise (SME) firms; and much larger companies such as privatised utilities or branches of mobile companies such as the major supermarkets.
The presence – or absence – of a thriving local foundational economy can have a profound impact on places and the communities that they support in terms of goods, services, distribution of income and skills and job opportunities.
A Foundational Economy built on principles of Fair Work and functioning within climate and environmental limits is key to achieving a Prosperous, Resilient, Healthier and More Equal Wales.
Cynnal Cymru hosted a second roundtable looking at the implementation of universal free school meals (uFSM) in primary schools in Wales.
The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is a Manchester based charity working to develop local economies for the benefit of local people, place and planet. CLES works with organisations and people who make up and have influence over local economies, bringing them together and providing support to devise solutions and deliver positive change. CLES’s practice-based research explores different routes and best practice to achieve this.
Foundational Economy Research Ltd (FERL) is an action research agency producing analysis to improve understanding of the foundational economy and offering practical ways of improving its function for producers and the public. FERL works with and for government, third sector and trade bodies, building partnerships to support long term implementation of its research.
Cities and regions policy – community wealth building.
A collection of research and case studies that supports the foundational economy.
Since 2020, Cynnal Cymru has facilitated a community of practice on behalf of Welsh Government exploring how to grow and support the foundational economy. Its main areas of focus cover Housing, Social Care, Food and Future Skills.
Earlier this year, Welsh Government announced the intention to offer free schools meals to every primary school pupil in Wales. This will start, for the youngest learners, in September 2022.
In 2019 Hywel Dda University Health Board took a bold step to start an Apprenticeship Academy. This was partly in response to the increasing financial costs of using agency staff
Working with the construction sector, Ysgol y Deri has established a sustainable catering enterprise that supports pupils with Additional Learning Needs to enter the workforce.
How trusted relationships with tenants, communities and suppliers are shaping the future for Blaenau Gwent’s Housing Associations
Torfaen County Borough Council take a new approach to supporting local business in Pontypool with the help of a Foundational Economy Challenge Fund grant.
Flintshire County Council has used a Welsh Government Foundational Economy Challenge Fund grant to pilot a new model of micro-provision of care services. 14 micro-carers have been created helping to grow the county’s care sector provide well-paid, sustainable jobs.
ELITE Paper Solutions has used a Welsh Government Foundational Economy Challenge Fund grant not only to grow its commercial success but to demonstrate the benefits of its social aims and fully inclusive workplace.
Practice Solutions received a Foundational Economy Challenge Fund to explore how local businesses could be better linked with both the community and the public sector with benefits not only to the local economy but to wider well-being.
Digital innovation platform, Simply Do Ideas, received support from the Foundational Economy Challenge Fund in January 2020. The funding was used to address key barriers that public sector organisations face when innovating and which can often prevent them from accessing the best ideas to solve strategic organisational challenges. Here is the result…
The FE CoP meets regularly to exchange knowledge, share learning and encourage innovation. A key role is to help broker links between projects and partners from all sectors with a view to practical problem-solving and collaboration. The meetings are member-led and highly participative, with representatives from local authority and housing association backgrounds, training providers, community organisations and third sector networks and Welsh Government officials.
If you would be interested in joining a session or finding out more, please get in contact via shwmae@cynnalcymru.com
Background
The Foundational Economy Community of Practice started in July 2020 as part of the Welsh Government’s Foundational Economy Challenge Fund. Its aim was to share learning and innovation, build relationships and encourage collaboration.
The Challenge Fund provided support to projects looking to try out new ways to address challenges – some emerging, some age-old – faced by foundational economy businesses or those relying on their services.
These included:
The aim was to explore a range of solutions that could potentially generate viable, adaptable models that could be scaled up and spread to strengthen local economies and community wealth-building.
Staring in 2019 with an initial 52 projects, it was always expected that some experiments would not succeed and conditions were made even more challenging by the impact of the pandemic.
A community of practice was also however put in place to help capture some of the rich learning and insights generated by all the projects taking part. The examples in the case studies below give a flavour of the projects supported by the Fund – their successes, challenges and above all learning, about how best the foundational economy in their area or sector can be supported. The Fund closed in March 2021 but, at the request of members, the community of practice has continued. Its role continues to be to share learning, encourage and expand dialogue and facilitate collaboration.
Cynnal Cymru hosted a second roundtable looking at the implementation of universal free school meals (uFSM) in primary schools in Wales.
Interim Director
Clare has a background in delivering partnership projects for the natural environment and sustainable resource use, applying this to help shape our policy and development work. She enjoys facilitating collaboration across sectors and devising practical programmes to deliver strategic aims.
Clare leads on Cynnal Cymru’s work for a thriving natural environment, which includes our Nature Wise eco literacy training, as well as contributing to work around the foundational economy and decarbonisation.